La Belle et la Bête
by Twisted Twilight Tales
Summary: In an empty warehouse in the shipping yard of Seattle lives a dark creature, cursed to kill. In a department store not too far away is a fragile girl with a firm belief in love and second chances.


**"Twisted Twilight Tales" O/S Contest**

**Fairy Tale Chosen: **Beauty and the Beast

**Title: **La Belle et la Bête

**Word Count: **2620

**Beta: **The Very Last Valkyrie

**Rating: **T

**Music: **

1864 – Michael Suby

Wink – Daniel Licht

Party – Daniel Licht

**Pairing: **Bella & Edward

**Disclaimer: **Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I, however, own a copy of the 1991 movie Beauty and the Beast and three cats.

**Summary: **In an empty warehouse in the shipping yard of Seattle lives a dark creature, cursed to kill. In a department store not too far away is a fragile girl with a firm belief in love and second chances.

La Belle et la Bête

There is nothing as powerful as love. We hear of it everyday, whether in a song, a book or a movie. Edward Cullen, on the other hand, did not believe in such fairytale nonsense. He was a man of science, facts and knowledge. This, of course, came with the belief that he needed nothing but himself and his common sense.

It was this very belief that led him to the outskirts of Seattle with no fear on a cold January night in the year of 1921. He left his house that evening with the intention of meeting a friend he had not seen since childhood. He kissed his mother on the cheek, told his father he would be home soon, and left.

When he arrived at the end of the deserted street where they were supposed to meet, James was nowhere to be found. Since James had always had a tendency of being at least fifteen minutes late, Edward waited for him. After what seemed like hours, Edward gave up and turned to leave. Suddenly he heard a soft crack, as if someone snapped a twig beneath their foot, and stood still in the middle of the road. He looked behind him and saw nothing but his own footprints in the freshly fallen snow.

Edward started walking with a sigh, more than annoyed by James' absence. Then once more he heard a noise, and this time he turned around completely. The air remained still for a minute before he heard an ear-splitting roar and all he could see were two red eyes before everything turned to darkness, and then pain, blinding pain.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Ms. Swan to counter three; Ms. Swan, counter three."

Isabella Swan sighed and put down the dress she was trying to fit onto the mannequin, beginning to walk towards the front of the store. She had been working there for no longer than a month and was already sick of the job. She opened the low door that kept customers from the area behind the counter and sat down on the tall stool behind the checkout.

"Good afternoon," she said to the old woman at the front of the line who was holding a tiny dog, all wrapped in a pink cloth. The woman put down some notebooks and took out her wallet, all the while balancing the dog on one arm. Bella – as she preferred to be called – looked at the little animal, fascinated. _Oh well_, thought she, _whatever keeps your mind off the tragedy that is your life_. While the woman babbled on and on about the dog's eating habits, Bella tuned out and instead focused on a tall, bronze haired man who was standing by the door, his back to her. He was looking at the rack of CDs which occupied the small corner of the store, and of which Bella had always had a low opinion; why was so little room reserved for music?

The woman with the dog cleared her throat, trying to regain her cashier's attention. Bella's head snapped back and she blushed furiously.

"Excuse me. Would you like a receipt?"

The woman squinted slightly. "No, thank you."

After one more hour of work, Bella grabbed her coat, scarf and gloves, and left to go home. She suddenly remembered the strange man with the bronze hair, and trembled inexplicably – the cold, perhaps. He had left after less than a minute and hadn't bought anything. Bella tried not to be disappointed he hadn't come to her counter.

The harsh October wind whipped mahogany brown hair around Bella's face, prompting her to her to shrink away as far as possible into the thick gray coat she was wearing. When she came home she would cook some pasta, drink some wine and get comfy with a blanket and a Jane Austen novel.

She hated this walk home, since it took her through the most rundown and nerve-racking part of town, the one with all of the empty shipping containers and warehouses. It always made her feel a little safer to think about her favorite scene in Pride and Prejudice. As she was mentally sculpting Darcy's nose – her image of him hadn't been the same since that loon in the latest movie had blocked out the view of the lovely Keira Knightley with that abomination on his face – she saw a flash of brilliant bronze: t_hat_ bronze. She stood perfectly still and could clearly see the outline of the man she had seen earlier, holding what appeared to be another man by the collar of his shirt. As she really focused on the second man, she saw that his body was limp and broken. The screech that tore through her body and shrilled from her lips could, she was sure, have been heard in the next street had there been anyone around to hear it. The bronze haired man whipped around with such speed that Bella could barely follow the movement, and his eyes glowed a brilliant crimson. In a flash he was at her side, scooping her up in his arms and hurtling away into the night. Bella could only stare at the beautiful man, both stunned and terrified. Darkness was all around her, and the speed at which they were travelling was making her nauseous. She closed her eyes…

Bella cracked one eyelid, and her surroundings slowly blurred into focus. She looked around and realized she was lying on her side, on a musty smelling mattress in the corner of a large space. The walls were a dull gray, formed of big steel panels. With a gasp she suddenly remembered how she had gotten here, and tried to sit up. It was then she felt the ropes around her wrists cut into her skin and whimpered softly.

"You are awake."

She startled at the sound of the gentle voice behind her: the man. Somehow his calmness and tranquility seemed to scare her even more than his violent behavior when she had caught him. He sounded as if he was merely stating a fact, and he was, but the detachment in his voice made her shiver.

"Who are you?" He asked after a brief pause. Bella buried her face in the mattress and didn't answer. She heard footsteps and assumed he was moving closer to the bed, but still she was too afraid to open her eyes.

"Who. Are. You." He emphasized each word with a step closer to her.

Still no answer. 

Edward was losing his patience with the human girl, and roughly turned her onto her back. Her wet, deep brown eyes looked up at him with such disgust and fear that it pulled at the longing deep inside him; the longing he had tried to lock away for a very long time, the longing for normal interaction with people, the desire to fit in, and to be loved.

"Tell me!" He yelled, pushing the thoughts that had emerged back to where they belonged.

"Bella," she sobbed. "Bella… please, please don't hurt me…" She was afraid of him, of course. She had every right to be. She needed to understand who was in control here, yet Edward couldn't quite let go of the thought that she did not deserve such treatment. But she had seen him. She had seen him at exactly the moment no one was supposed to. She had seen him for what he really was: a killer.

When he had first seen the frail figure standing in the dark street, alone and scared, she had reminded him of himself; that one moment of weakness had kept him from simply killing her and eliminating the threat she posed, and the longer he waited, the more of his humanity would come back and take over, making it impossible to take her life. Take a life – just the words sounded old-fashioned and unfamiliar. He had ceased to think of them as lives, all those he had taken. It made it easier, so much easier. Could this insignificant girl change all that? He wouldn't let her.

"Don't kill me… please."

"Kill you?" Edward laughed. Ridicule was the only way to hide his insecurities about her now.

"Yes!" She exclaimed, taking him completely by surprise. "Kill me! Kill me like you killed that man!" She screamed through her tears. Edward snapped.

"I will not kill you because you ask me to! It would be too merciful." He threw himself onto the mattress, covering her body with his, gripping her shoulders and pushing her further into the cheap foam. His face came dangerously close to hers, crimson eyes meeting brown. "Don't ever speak to me like that again." He hissed through his teeth, so close to her now she had stopped breathing altogether. Tears had stopped spilling over her rosy cheeks, tempting him with the promise of fresh, thick blood pumping and throbbing in her veins. He had to catapult himself against the opposite wall, her scent so overwhelming with her heart pumping so fast and her fear spiking her blood.

He could not kill her. He didn't know what it was about her, but he couldn't. Not now, anyway.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A couple of hours later Edward was still on the other side of the room, only now he was sitting rather than standing.

"Are you hungry?"

Bella turned slowly, her cheeks stained with dried tears. "Yes."

It seemed both strange and strangely comforting, such conversation after the fight – if you could call it that. Edward stood slowly, and Bella silently appreciated she could actually see his movements. When he came back from the adjoining room after no more than half a second, he carried a plate and a glass of water. She got the odd feeling he was only moving at a normal speed to comfort her. It seemed completely irrelevant in her current position, but it still made her feel better.

When he set down the plate in front of her, all she said was, "Eggs?"

She thought she saw the corners of his lips quirk, and he shrugged. "It's all I know how to make." He sat down on a chair in the corner of the room while she tried to sit up. In a flash he was across the room, and helping her, which didn't go so well wither hands tied. Bella cringed away from the touch.

"Stay away from me!" She hissed, and he was back in the corner, sitting on the chair, staring at the wall.

It was silent for a long time while Bella attacked her meal, before she spoke softly.

"What are you?"

Again, the silence in the big space seemed to last minutes, rather than seconds in reality.

"I'm a vampire."

Bella swallowed audibly. This revelation did not surprise her as much as it should have. With all of the events that had taken place in the last couple of hours – time was no longer really measurable – nothing could ever take her by surprise again, she guessed.

"I was changed a long time ago. I lost everything and had to kill. I cannot die, I cannot live. Life means nothing to me anymore – it made me who I am, a killer. You know, I should kill you, really. I don't understand why I haven't."

Bella couldn't understand why the man would volunteer such information, when until now he had been distant and cold (excepting that one stifled smile). She slid down onto the mattress and closed her eyes, her arms knotted together, lying still on her stomach except for the occasional tremor. It was cold, and there was no blanket, no pillow. She heard a rustling sound, and felt something heavy on her body. Her eyes fluttered open and the beautiful creature was right there, draping his coat over her shaking body. His eyes held such sincere sadness; she couldn't help but feel sympathy.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and a single tear slipped down her face.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Bella shifted on the rough mattress, the cold of the warehouse seeping into her and making her shiver. She saw a strip of light from underneath one of the loose steel plates, and tried to sit up. When she did, she saw the man at the foot of the bed, occupying the single chair. She noticed her hands were no longer bound together, and felt a wave of hope as she stared into the murderer's eyes.

"Will you keep my secret?"

"Yes," she said right away, sensing this might be a chance for her to escape. Even though her survival should have been the first thing on her mind, she also meant what she said: she would keep his secret, she would leave him be. He deserved as much as peace, she decided, although the sensible part of her brain screamed at her to run and tell the first person she could find that there was a vampire hiding in the shipping yard.

He came very close then, walking toward her and leaning down to look her straight in the eye. Bella trembled as she felt his breath wash over her face. Seeing him this close, really seeing him, she was not afraid. As his crimson eyes smoldered into hers, burning, she realized that all he wanted was company. He deserved someone to be there for him, someone to understand each and every thing he was going through. Until now, all he had known was solitude, roaming streets and cities in order to feed; he repulsed humans, as soon as they understood what he was, as soon as he restrained them and brought his lips to the supple flesh of their throats.

"Will you? Really?" He asked seriously, no trace of either seduction or intimidation in his voice.

"What is your name?" Bella said suddenly. He blinked, and realized she was right. He hadn't told her his name.

A moment's hesitation.

"Edward."

She smiled sadly. "Edward."

He closed his eyes and reveled in the fact that his name did not leave her lips a plea or an angry scream, but in a soft, velvet caress. Then, scared but determined, Bella laid her hand on his cheek and let out a shaky breath.

"Edward," she whispered again, and smiled. "I promise to keep your secret." This was so unlike her, so bold and unafraid. This man, this _vampire_, had wanted to kill her, yet all she could see was the hurt boy from so many years ago. "I wish I could help you," She pressed her forehead against his. "I wish you didn't have to be alone."

Edward opened his eyes and stared at the small girl in front of him. Even though he was the one who had always frightened and threatened, now she was the one scaring him. She was so right – he was alone, always. He had been so now for almost a hundred years, and this human – who had seen all of him, even his dark side – was now the one telling him she felt sorry for him, and wanted to take care of him. The temptation was too much, for this was all he had been wishing for since he had been turned all those years ago.

"Then stay." The words were out before he could think them over.

Bella lifted her eyes to the broken angel in front of her and cradled his face in her hands.

"I will be here, Edward, always. I'll be here for you."

The relief that washed over him was so immense that Edward let out a dry sob. He had never been so disappointed that he couldn't actually cry. He wrapped his arms around her trembling body and cradled her against his chest. "Bella," he whispered. "My Bella."


End file.
